1. Field
This application relates generally to associating digital media with biological responses (bioresponse), and more specifically to a system for tagging elements within a digital media using eye-tracking data.
2. Description of Related Art
Biological response (bioresponse) data is generated by monitoring a person's biological reactions to visual, aural, or other sensory stimulus. A bioresponse may entail rapid simultaneous eye movements (saccades), eyes focusing on a particular visual element (e.g., word or graphic) for a time period (fixation), multiple eye fixations to a particular visual element within a time period (regression), heart rate (HR), galvanic skin response (GSR), pupil dilation, cortisol level, blood sugar level, rate of breathing, muscle tension (EMG), electroencephalography (EEG), or any other measurable biological reaction.
Bioresponse data may further include or be associated with detailed information on what prompted a response. For example, an eye-tracking system may indicate a coordinate location of a particular element within a visual stimulus—like a particular word in a phrase or figure in an image—and associate the particular visual element with a certain response. This association may enable a system to identify specific words, images, and other elements that elicited a measurable biological response from the person experiencing the visual stimulus. For instance, a person reading a book may quickly read over some words while pausing at others. Quick eye movements, or saccades, may then be associated with the words the person was reading. When the eyes simultaneously pause and focus on a certain word for a longer duration than other words, this response may then be associated with the particular word the person was reading. In another example, a recording microphone may be used together with a heart rate and galvanic skin response monitor to indicate a musical segment within an aural stimulus—like a particular song within a play list—and associate the song with the heart rate or galvanic skin response. The association of bioresponse data with particular sensory stimulus may be used for a variety of purposes.
Bioresponse data may be collected from a variety of devices and sensors that are becoming more and more prevalent today. Desktop, laptop, and tablet computers frequently include microphones and high-resolution cameras capable of monitoring a person's facial expressions, eye motion patterns, or verbal responses while viewing or experiencing sensory stimuli. Cellular telephones now include high-resolution cameras, proximity sensors, accelerometers, and touch-sensitive screens (galvanic skin response) in addition to microphones and buttons, and these “smartphones” have the capacity to expand the hardware to include additional sensors. Digital signage kiosks, such as advertisement billboards, may include high-resolution cameras that capture a viewer's proximity and facial expressions. User-wearable augmented reality goggles may contain sensors for tracking a user's eye positions with respect to the user's field of view.